1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates in general to surgical procedures employing lasers. More particularly, the invention relates to surgical laser tools of the type used in cutting tissue and coagulation. The invention further relates to surgical laser tools for use in surgical procedures such as urology, abdominal surgery, otorhinolaryngology and gynecology.
2. Description of the Related Art
Lasers have been used as "light knives" in surgical procedures. A typical surgical laser tool employs two lasers, one a cutting or burning laser and the other an aiming beam. High-power CO.sub.2 or Argon lasers are typically used for cutting and burning, while a red HeNe laser is used for the aiming beam. The HeNe laser is relatively weak and cool, causing no effects on tissue, while providing a red dot which is focused to where the surgical laser will cut or burn. The surgeon can see only the effects of the cutting laser, not the cutting laser itself, and uses the HeNe laser as the aim point.
In a typical prior art surgical laser tool employing a CO.sub.2 laser, the beam is delivered through a mirror system located in an articulated counterbalanced arm to a hand-held tool. In the case of an Argon laser, the beam is delivered through optical fibers to the hand-held tool. When the laser energy is focused onto tissue surface, a small volume of tissue is heated so that only this area is cut off. One advantage to this procedure is that small capillaries are coagulated, preventing hemorrhaging resulting from cut blood vessels and providing better healing.
In surgical procedures good lighting for visualization is always important. This is especially true in laser surgery because, unlike a scalpel, the surgeon has no kinesthetic feel or "drag" when moving the laser beam across the anatomical structure. In addition, surgery is often done in dark holes of the wound, which are difficult to illuminate. Most importantly, the HeNe beam is bright red, making it difficult for the surgeon to distinguish between the slightly different shades of red in the wound which denote different structures. After some time with the HeNe beam, a "red out" effect on the surgeon's eyes can occur. The surgeon must then remove the laser from the wound in order to recover color balance and become reoriented to the anatomical structures.
The need has been recognized for a surgical laser tool which obviates the foregoing and other limitations and disadvantages in the prior art. Despite the various surgical laser tools in the prior art, there has heretofore not been provided a suitable and attractive solution to these problems.